1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to electronic devices, and more particularly to structures and methods of combining signals of multiple interfaces on a single interface.
2. Description of the Related Art
Display port (DP) is an architecture capable of conveying video signals to an external device, such as a display or monitor or other type of display device. DP is a video interface that is a more advanced version than conventional types of interfaces such as VGA and DVI. Universal serial bus (USB) is a technology that allows connection of many different types of peripherals to a computing device, such as a personal computer, sometimes with the aid of a hub and sometimes via a single attachment point. USB technology has evolved through multiple generations from 1.0 to a pending 3.1. DP technology has evolved recently to generation 1.3.
The USB Promoters Group and VESA have recently announced a new reversible USB 3.1 Type C connector that is operable to simultaneous transport DP 1.3 signals. A typical conventional computing device that incorporates a USB 3.1 port will include a system circuit board populated with one or more semiconductor chips and a USB 3.1 port, typically in female form. A male connector of a USB 3.1 cable may be inserted into the port in order to establish a connection between the conventional computing device and some peripheral device, such as a hard drive, monitor or some other device. A conventional semiconductor chip in a conventional electronic device that has both a DP 1.3 and a USB 3.1 controller will also have two discrete physical layers frequently abbreviated PHY. Each PHY is dedicated to a particular controller. In order to implement simultaneous operation of both the USB 3.1 and DP 1.3 signals, the system board is provided with a multiplexer (MUX). The provision of a MUX on the system board increases the complexity of the board and may introduce latency or other signal integrity issues such as jitter.
The present invention is directed to overcoming or reducing the effects of one or more of the foregoing disadvantages.